How Did Logan Paul Get Famous? He's Been All Over Social Media

All of the Logan Paul news lately has given me a major headache. I had never heard of him before his controversy, and now it feels like I can't go more than a few days without him popping up in my news feed or my Twitter moments. Based on the content that I have seen of his, I have to wonder: how did Logan Paul get famous?

Like many of today's internet personalities, Paul got his start on Vine. Vine, a shining beacon of all that is good in the world, was at its peak when Paul was a freshman engineering student at Ohio University in 2014. He and his brother, Jake, both began to attract major followings on the platform; a YouTube compilation of Paul's Vines has over 16 million views, and as of the app's shutdown, he had 9.4 million followers. Most of his Vines involve him pulling pranks, engaging in physical stunts, making a fool of himself in public, and lots of yelling. It's worth noting that a fair number of them also include racist undertones, as NextShark pointed out.

Because of his popularity on the app, Paul decided to drop out of Ohio University and move to Los Angeles, California in 2014to continue capitalizing on and expanding his newfound fame. Through Vine, he was able to partner with a number of major brands, including Pepsi, HBO, Virgin Mobile and Ritz, which is how he began to make serious money. In 2015, Paul was number 10 on a list of top 15 most influential Vine stars, per Business Insider.

Striking Vines on YouTube

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), as we all know, the app eventually folded. But like many ex-Viners, both brothers successfully transitioned to YouTube as the main platform for their content. Starting on Sept. 12, 2016,Paul began vlogging every day and did so until Jan. 1, 2018. To this day, YouTube remains Paul's most-used and probably most well-known platform. Currently, his main channel, TheOfficialLoganPaul, has almost 4.5 million subscribers. His vlog channel, Logan Paul Vlogs, has over 16 million subscribers.

He has also begun to expand into long-form entertainment, thanks to acting classes. He has appeared in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Fox's Weird Loners, Freeform's Stitchers,and the YouTube Red movies The Thinning and The Space Between Us.

Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

However, despite his serious following, not everyone appreciates Paul's brand of humor or rise to fame. In a Quora post pondering how he and his brother got so famous, one user responded, "Because their crass humour and abysmal content appeals to the lowest common denominator, which forms a bulk of YouTube’s audience. Therefore, stupid stars like the Paul brothers are YouTube’s bread and butter."

His popularity on Vine and YouTube has allowed him to get into a number of other revenue generators. He frequently creates content for Instagram and Facebook as well, and he has around 16 million followers on each platform. Additionally, Paul started his own clothing line, Maverick, which brings in millions of dollars a month for the 22-year-old, per Forbes.